The Modern People Leader: Forward-Thinking HR MPL Build AMA: So You’re People Ops as a Product Curious? (Jessica Zwaan)
Feb 27, 2026
Jessica Zwaan, author and people operations strategist who treats People Ops like a product. She discusses shedding old HR mindsets and embracing product thinking. Short feedback loops and lightweight tactics to guide improvements get highlighted. AI’s role in making people-product work more accessible is explored.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Ego Death Is The First Step To Change
- Leaders must undergo an 'ego death' to accept past HR approaches no longer work and to publicly commit to new ways of operating.
- Jessica explains this requires admitting prior decisions may be wrong, telling your team and leadership, and being willing to change course.
Stop Hiring To Fix Administrative Overload
- Free your people team from admin by automating, self‑serving managers, and redesigning internal processes before scaling headcount.
- Jessica recommends ticketing, Zapier automations or AI triage and making managers the first line for routine flows.
Use One‑To‑Ones And Huddles For Fast Feedback
- Collect lightweight qualitative feedback via regular one‑to‑ones and quick huddles to test communications before broad rollout.
- Jessica uses annual one‑to‑ones with four fixed questions and Slack huddles with five people to preview major messages.
